


Empty

by lachatblanche



Series: Dollhouse AU [2]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Consent Issues, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-15
Updated: 2012-10-15
Packaged: 2017-11-16 09:52:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lachatblanche/pseuds/lachatblanche
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Logan begins to learn more about his Active.</p>
<p>Snapshot set in Dollhouse-verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empty

Logan huffed out a sigh of relief as Charlie’s eyes flickered open and met Hank’s. 

There was no need to worry, of course, but Logan couldn’t help but feel particularly protective about his Active whenever he came back from assignments like this one. Sending him off to be someone’s personal dominatrix for the evening was one thing (and Logan wasn’t even going to go into how fucked up he found that, not right now, thanks bub, he’s perfectly happy with repression) but assassinations were another. Charlie wasn’t … Charlie was a good kid. He wasn’t made for that sort of thing. Yes, Logan knew that it was just his dumb brain being stupid – Charlie wasn’t even a proper _person_ , really, when you thought about it; no personality or desires or anything – but Logan still felt that he could tell. He couldn’t help but think that before the Dollhouse, the person now known as Charlie would have balked at the mere thought of having blood on his hands.

_Guess there are some perks to not remembering the shit you did the day before,_ Logan mused, watching as Charlie gave Hank a vacant smile and then asked whether he’d fallen asleep.

‘For a little while,’ came the expected response.

Logan watched thoughtfully as the rest of the little charade was played out, moving out of the way when Charlie climbed out of the Chair.

‘Hold up a bit, Charlie,’ he called when he saw the other make his way towards the exit. Charlie turned and gave him a pleasant little smile. ‘I’ll be taking you to Dr. MacTaggart in a minute.’

Charlie’s mouth stretched up at the corners, curling sweetly.

‘I like Dr. MacTaggart,’ he smiled.

Logan rolled his eyes.

‘Of course you do,’ he muttered. ‘You like _everyone_.’

‘Yes,’ Charlie agreed, surprising him. ‘I like people.’

Logan threw Hank a sideways glance, but the programmer just shrugged.

‘I guess he likes people,’ he said, grinning.

Logan let out a grunt.

‘I can believe it,’ he said. ‘He looks like the type, does Charlie.’ He smirked. ‘Now if I heard that big guy – what’s his name, Azazel? – say that, then I’d find it a little hard to swallow.’

Hank laughed at that.

‘Yeah, he doesn’t look like the friendly type, does he?’ he chuckled. ‘I can tell you now that most of his assignments are _not_ the romantic sort.’

‘Doesn’t surprise me,’ Logan snorted. ‘What with the name and all … Speaking of, what’s _with_ the name?’

Hank shrugged.

‘I don’t know,’ he said vaguely. ‘I suppose he looks rather devilish?’

But Logan was shaking his head, frowning.

‘I mean _all_ the names,’ he said. ‘Azazel, Riptide, Rogue, Storm … What the fuck is up with that?’

Hank winced at the swearword and threw Logan an irritated look, pointing deliberately over to where Charlie was happily standing on the other side of the room.

‘Oops,’ Logan said unrepentantly.

‘I hope you don’t always swear like that around him!’ Hank hissed.

Logan shrugged, causing Hank to groan. 

‘Never mind that,’ Logan said impatiently. ‘What’s with the names, anyhow? Apart from Charlie’s, they’re all screwy.’

‘I know,’ Hank agreed, making a face, ‘and I agree - there’s no real order to it. I have made several recommendations to Miss Frost regarding this in hopes that she’ll change things, but … Well, it doesn’t seem to be working.’

‘Funny that,’ Logan remarked. ‘I’d have thought that order and classification and shit would be right up her street.’

Hank winced again at his swearing, but this time he overlooked it.

‘Maybe so,’ he agreed. ‘But I suppose it’s too late to do anything – not now, at any rate. And, odd or not, it _is_ a system. All the Houses do it. Granted, most of them have a better organisation scheme than us – the NATO phonetic alphabet, for example, or the Greek alphabet. It all really depends which branch of the Dollhouse you are in. Ours … well.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t actually know. It doesn’t matter really. All that counts is that no real names are used. Well – at least in most cases.’

‘Most cases?’ Logan raised an interested eyebrow.

‘Well,’ Hank hesitated. ‘Charlie, for instance …’

Logan immediately became alert.

‘Yes?’ he growled, sitting up and casting a glance to where the Active in question was patiently standing. ‘What about him?’

‘Well,’ Hank’s eyes flickered up to meet his before glancing away. ‘Don’t tell anyone I told you this, because you’re not supposed to know, but … His real name is _Charles_.’

Logan blinked at that.

_Charles,_ he turned the name over in his head. _So that’s who you are._

He quickly turned his attention back to Hank.

‘So how come they called him Charlie?’ he asked. ‘I wouldn’t have thought that Frost would have allowed it.’

‘Oh she didn’t,’ Hank said immediately. ‘Charles was actually going to be called the Professor – probably because of his old profession, see?’ And there Logan was handed yet another piece of the puzzle that was Charlie. ‘But then Shaw stepped in.’

Logan stilled.

‘Shaw?’ he asked slowly, his eyes growing fractionally wider. ‘ _Sebastian_ Shaw? You mean the big cheese? Of the Shaw Foundation? The one that runs this joint?’

Hank let out a humourless laugh.

‘The very one,’ he answered.

Logan let out a low whistle before his eyes narrowed.

‘Why’d he step in?’ he demanded. ‘Why did he change Charlie’s name?’

Hank shrugged even as he shook his head.

‘He … said it would be amusing,’ he said at last. ‘But maybe he was trying to get this place more organised, trying to get it into the regimented alphabet system. We also have a Mike and a Juliet, if you’re interested.’ Logan wasn’t. Hank shook his head again. ‘Maybe he just liked the name. I don’t know. He’s a strange man. He – he frightens me, a little.’

‘I think he frightens us all, kid,’ Logan muttered darkly. He glanced around at the room, his eyes lingering on the Chair. ‘Hell, anyone who could come up with all this … well. That person is a person worth fearing.’

‘Yeah,’ Hank said in a small voice. 

There was silence for a moment.

Then Logan asked a question that he was unable to suppress, even though he very much wanted to.

‘Shaw,’ he asked awkwardly, his voice growing the slightest bit gruffer. ‘Has he – Did he …’ he trailed off and instead jerked his chin towards Charlie.

Hank frowned for a moment before he understood and then he blushed bright red, which was odd considering that he was the one responsible for programming the Dolls with their assignments in the first place.

‘I – I don’t know,’ he admitted, his face still red. ‘I’m – That’s Security’s job. They’re the ones who deal with the clients. I – I’m just the programmer.’ 

Logan’s jaw tightened. He knew that he shouldn’t be angry with Hank – what he himself was doing was little better, after all – but for some reason he couldn’t stop himself.

‘Yeah,’ he said harshly, his mouth pulling up into a sneer. ‘You’re just the guy who programmes them. Never mind that the poor bastards don’t have a clue what they’re being made to do. Never mind that the _client_ may be a fucking psychopath.’

Hank jerked at that, looking almost betrayed by the venom in Logan’s voice.

‘It’s not like that!’ he protested in a faltering voice. ‘There are multiple security checks, you know that! And it’s not like I don’t _care_ -’

‘Save it, bub,’ Logan said curtly, rising from where he was perched against the desk, suddenly tired of it all. ‘You don’t wanna say it and I sure as hell don’t wanna hear it.’ He turned and started to walk out of the room. ‘Come on, Charlie,’ he called behind him. ‘Time to see the Doc.’

Charlie smiled at that and immediately turned to follow his handler.

Hank, still slightly upset, waved a hand as he passed.

‘Goodbye Charlie.’

Charlie paused at the threshold, turning around to look at him. He was frowning. 

The pause caused Hank to look up. Seeing the expression on Charlie’s face, he himself began to frown in turn. 

Actives weren’t supposed to feel discontent; they were programmed to feel a sense of calm neutrality, a sense of mild contentedness. They weren’t programmed to specifically _feel_ things, negative emotions in particular. 

They weren’t supposed to react to any of the present stimuli with a _frown_.

‘Charlie?’ he asked hesitantly, taking a step forward towards the Doll.

There was another pause. Then Charlie looked up at him with wide, blue eyes.

‘My name is Charles,’ he said softly, before turning back around and walking out.


End file.
